tual fighting to do during the remainder of the year.

After the clearing of the eastern border of the Transvaal by the
movement of Pole-Carew along the railway line, and of Buller aided by
Ian Hamilton in the mountainous country to the north of it, there were
no operations of importance in this district. A guard was kept upon
the frontier to prevent the return of refugees and the smuggling of
ammunition, while General Kitchener, the brother of the Sirdar, broke
up a few small Boer laagers in the neighbourhood of Lydenburg.
Smith-Dorrien guarded the line at Belfast, and on two occasions,
November 1st and November 6th, he made aggressive movements against the
enemy. The first, which was a surprise executed in concert with Colonel
Spens of the Shropshires, was frustrated by a severe blizzard, which
prevented the troops from pushing home their success. The second was a
two days' expedition, which met with a spirited opposition, and demands
a fuller notice.

This was made from Belfast, and the force, which consisted of about
fourteen hundred men, advanced south to the Komati River. The infantry
were Suffolks and Shropshires, the cavalry Canadians and 5th Lancers,
with two Canadian guns and four of the 84th battery. All day the Boer
snipers clung to the column, as they had done to French's cavalry in the
same district. Mere route marches without a very definite and adequate
objective appear to be rather exasperating than overawing, for so long
as the column is moving onwards the most timid farmer may be tempted
into long-range fire from the flanks or rear. The river was reached
and the Boers driven from a position which they had taken up, but their
signal fires brought mounted riflemen from every farm, and the retreat
of the troops was pressed as they returned to Belfast. There was all the
material for a South African Lexington. The most difficult of military
operations, the covering of a detachment from a numerous and aggressive
enemy, was admirably carried out by the Canadian gunners and dragoons
under the command of Colonel Lessard. So severe was the pressure that
sixteen of the latter were for a time in the hands of the enemy,
who attempted something in the nature of a charge upon the steadfast
rearguard. The movement was repulsed, and the total Boer loss would
appear to have been considerable, since two of their leaders, Commandant
Henry Prinsloo and General Joachim Fourie, were killed, while General
Johann Grobler was